Stephanie Miller Lehman, PhD, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, will give a Suter Science Seminar at Eastern Mennonite University on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 4 p.m. The lecture, which begins at 4 p.m. in Suter Science Center, Room 106, is free and open to the public.
Miller Lehman will discuss “Exploring Arginine Methylation as a Cancer Therapy Target and as a Dissertation.” Arginine methylation is an under-explored post translational modification, dysregulation of which can lead to cancer. There are several effective cancer therapies coming to market, yet the cellular mechanism on action is not well understood. Miller Lehman will speak about arginine methylation, its detection by mass spectrometry, and its impact on alternative RNA splicing. She will also include notes on why she returned to graduate school after a professional career, as well as reflecting on her first year as a post-doctoral fellow.
Miller Lehman graduated in 2006 with a BS in chemistry from EMU. After college, she spent seven years as a senior scientist at Lancaster Laboratories, Inc. with the biopharmaceutical method development and validations group in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 2013, she transitioned to graduate school at University of Virginia for a PhD in chemistry, studying under Dr. Donald F. Hunt. Her work focused on the detection of post translational modification on proteins using novel mass spectrometric techniques. Currently, she is in Dr. Benjamin A. Garcia’s lab.
Next seminar
The next seminar is 9 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 12. Dr. Carolyn Weaver Swenson ‘03, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan, will speak on the topic of “A Gynecologic Surgeon’s Perspective on a Career in Academic Medicine, Parenting, and the Pelvic Floor.”
The seminars are free and open to the public, and made possible by the sponsorship of the Daniel B. Suter Endowment in Biology and the co-sponsorship of supporting programs. Named in honor of long-time EMU biology professor, Daniel B. Suter (1920-2006), the Endowment in Biology was established in 1986 through the generous donations of alumni and friends and currently consists of over $1 million of invested funds. EMU hopes to double the Suter Endowment in order to more adequately support distinguished faculty and to increase scholarship aid to deserving students.